Waiting for an Invincible Summer
by PaperKat
Summary: Written originally for Rel's Summer writing contest.  There are always two sides to every story, and this is TenTen's
1. Chapter 1 K version

A Naruto Fanfiction

Waiting for An Invincible Summer

Aburame Shino and TenTen

When he found out about Kiba's disciplinary hearing, Shino was not excessively surprised. Kiba had always skated the edge of outright insubordination. Not from any real desire to rebel or to cause anarchy, but because Kiba was a very accomplished and a very powerful alpha male. It simply was very difficult for him to follow someone else's orders, at least without argument. Shino was, however, taken aback when he had been required to be in attendance.

He had not been told the exact transgression, but the hearing was closed which did not bode well. Classified disciplinary hearings usually meant expulsion from the village, life imprisonment or a form of dishonorable discharge that resulted in one's chakra being sealed. There simply was not anything Shino could imagine Kiba doing that would warrant such harsh punishment.

When he arrived at the ANBU offices, Shino was immediately ushered to a small room where Kiba was sitting alone against one wall, his booted feet up on a nondescript folding table in front of him. Knowing Kiba as he did, Shino could tell that his genin teammate was not just giving off the air of nonchalance, the dog-nin was truly unconcerned about his current predicament, which relieved Shino greatly.

"Hey there, Bugman," Kiba called out, grinning but not removing his hands from behind his head.

"I suppose it would be useless to ask why we are here," Shino replied, standing between Kiba's table and the other more official looking wooden table at the other side of the room.

"Che, I was hopin' you knew."

Not having direction on what to do, Shino opted for standing were he was, but he did not have to wait long. After only a few minutes, the door swung open allowing two ANBU, the Hokage and Shizune in.

"You," Lady Tsunade barked, pointing her finger at Shino, "in the chair back there, be quiet, I'll talk to you after."

Shino easily slid around the other occupants in the room without comment, to sit in the only chair that was not pulled up to the wooden table.

"You," she continued changing the direction of her accusing finger to Kiba, "If it wasn't for your perfect, clean record you would have already been dismissed from duty and held in lockup until my mood improves."

The Hokage marched the few feet over to Kiba, causing the younger man to rear back in his tilted seat until he overbalanced enough to force him to grab the table top edge or topple over.

"And the way I'm feeling right now I won't be happy for a very," she creeped in closer over the table, and Kiba arched back

"Very," she got closer pushing the young man back farther.

"Very," one more time Lady Tsunade leaned into Kiba until her nose nearly touched the other man, and only the fist she made in his shirt kept him from hitting the floor.

"Very long time. So I suggest you stop treating this like some simple dressing down for forgetting to turn in your mission reports and start realizing this is as serious as it get Inuzuka Kiba."

When Tsunade-sama pulled back she bodily picked Kiba up and tossed him back into his chair. By the time the young Jounin steadied himself with both feet on the ground, Lady Tsunade had come to the front of the wooden table and picked up the paper Shino had seen Shizune place there.

Although her stance was relaxed as she leaned one hip on the wooden desk, the way the paper crinkled and crushed in her grip showed all of her frustration, anger and disappointment as clearly as her voice did when she read the charge against his friend.

"Inuzuka Kiba, you are accused of treason against the Hidden Leaf Village. How do you plead?"

"WHAT?" the accused demanded and Shino felt the answering disbelief in his Hive.

Kiba had never once displayed behavior that could have remotely have been construed as treason in Shino's presence. In fact, Kiba was one of only a handful of individuals that Shino trusted with his life.

"Whoever said that is a damn liar," Kiba continued and Shino was inclined to agree, though he would not have come out so directly saying so.

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune cut in nervously, "maybe I should read the full set of charges."

"Whatever, here," Tsunade-sama agreed offhandedly as she stood upright, tossing the paper behind her without looking so that she could keep glaring at Shino's childhood friend.

Absently, Shino's surveillance drones watched as Shizune scrambled to try to pluck the paper from the air as it violently twisted in the currents created by Lady Tsunade's harsh throw, while his own eyes observed the raging emotions playing out on Kiba's face.

The same anger, frustration and disappointment that was in the Hokage's body language was there in Kiba also. Kiba was a difficult team member sometimes and he was at best rough around the edges, but his honor and loyalty was unquestionable. For him to be accused of treason was a crime in and of itself in Shino's mind.

After catching the charges and clearing her throat, Shizune spoke out in a clear voice.

"Inuzuka Kiba is accused of treason against the Hidden Leaf Village as he did willfully and knowingly endangered his teammates during the execution of mission LT587-3-A."

"Huh?" came Kiba eloquent rebuttal as the same confusion that soften the Inuzuka's face ran rampant in Shino's head.

He had been one of Kiba's teammates on that particular mission, which probably explained his presence here. The other assigned member of the mission had been TenTen.

Remembering the exact details of that mission made Shino once again very glad he followed his clan's tendencies to wear face concealing clothing as heat raced up his neck and into his cheeks. Just to make certain that his embarrassment was not seen, Shino ducked his head farther into his undercoat's collar.

"I wouldn't do that. I didn't do that! What the hell? Shino tell them."

It was the desperate pleading in Kiba's voice that allowed Shino to overcome his personal hang-up and embarrassment, and assist his friend.

"Lady Tsunade, if I may, I do not remember being, as was stated, 'willfully and knowingly endangered' during that particular mission," Shino countered rationally with the truth. While the mission had not gone as planed, they had made it out without serious injury and that had been mainly due to Kiba's dogged pursuit of their intended target.

"You don't remember it because you were otherwise occupied attempting to keep the mission solvent while it was falling apart all around you."

Knowing that they could not see it, Shino cut his eyes to the side, but otherwise remained motionless. The assignment had been to track down a serial killer that had been targeting large city night spots throughout the Fire country. He and Kiba were to track, and since she seemed to fit the general profile of the victims, TenTen had been functioning as the bait. Everything had been going according to their intentions when the killer had caught Shino conversing with TenTen after another seemingly unsuccessful night of trying to draw him out.

He had identified their voyeur through his kikkaichu as their target, however the killer had not been what they were told to expect. He had been a very high ranking ninja, high enough that Shino had been unable to get a true fix on his location. Knowing that he would not be able to track their target, and unable to contact Kiba without being obvious, Shino and had done what he thought was best to maintain TenTen's cover.

"Now I know you're full of shit,' Kiba bellowed out, causing Shino to focus back on the present.

Kiba had jumped up from his chair, slamming his palms on the table all but growling as his slitted eyes narrowed and his teeth ground together. However when the Hokage abandoned her unsuccessful attempt at aloofness and again came nose to nose with Kiba, the younger man was forced back into his chair.

"Want to say that again?"

"I, ah, I had their back the whole t-time. I never left them with-without cover," Kiba stuttered out, obviously uncomfortable with being alpha challenged in a situation where he could not respond as his instincts demanded. Shino knew from many off-duty visits to Kiba's home that if this had been his mother, the two dog ninja would have already been scraping on the floor trading full punches and mild insults. However, something like that would be completely inappropriate to the Hokage.

"Ah, yes the whole time," Lady Tsunade hummed condescendingly. "However you seem to be leaving out the part where you allowed them to continue trying to maintain cover AFTER you had neutralized the threat."

Shino's eyes flew back up to focus on Kiba and his friend's surprised and...guilty face. Kiba had taken out the target before he and TenTen...

'No, it is not true' was all Shino's mind could come up with, because he would not except any other answer. He trusted Kiba completely. To even contemplate his betrayal was unthinkable.

"How did you..." Kiba started to ask, but his voice trailed away as shoulders, head and eyes dropped in a display of complete submission.

"How did we find out? The timing didn't line up. According to TenTen's medic, which is me, and the medical examiner, which is Shizune, the target died a full hour BEFORE you told them."

Memories that he had been refusing to look back at for the last month whorled in Shino's head. His hive was stunned into silence as their master counted back the minutes with his genius level mind and nearly photographic memory.

An hour pervious to Kiba jauntily informing him that the mission was complete would have been just after Shino had decided that just kissing TenTen in the alley behind the club was not enough to draw out their target and he had progressed to a more...aggressive display.

"I didn't... I mean, I just...they..."

Kiba did not need to fully vocalize his actions for Shino to understand what must have happened. Kiba was a dear and wonderful friend, but sometimes he was an impossible ass that acted on instinct and impulse rather than assessing the consequences of his actions.

As clearly as if he had been witness to it, Shino could see Kiba using not only his own senses but the kikkaichu as well to tract down the target, it simply was the way of their partnership.

It was Shino's long years of knowing the crazy Inuzuka in and out of combat that helped him piece together a scenario where Kiba must have returned to his teammates and found them 'engaged' with each other. The blush that was evident despite the crimson marking on Kiba's cheeks told Shino that his friend had contemplated the embarrassing move of interrupting he and TenTen, but the way Kiba refused to fully meet his eye line also told Shino that Kiba and consciously decided to allow the coupling to continue.

_"She's perfect for you Shino and you can't tell me you don't think she's hot," Kiba grinned showing all his teeth and tapping his nose indicating that he could sense Shino's unconscious reaction to TenTen's presence. "You gotta try askin' her out, man. You never know unless you try."_

Shino clearly remembered the conversation and his noncommittal reaction of a shrug. Maybe if he had have told Kiba the truth none of this would have happened. Shino had every intention of pursuing TenTen as some point, but it had been too soon for such ventures. It was unwise and somewhat dangerous for an Aburame hosting a colony to engage in a romantic or even physical relationship before they had full control of certain aspects of their kikkaichu.

Like the Inuzuka, the Aburame were tied intimately with the animals they commanded, but unlike Kiba who had received Akamaru as a young boy, Shino had been in constant contact since birth with his kikkaichu. The inevitable consequences of being under the influences of the insects were that Shino was not always sure where his want and will ended and the kikkaichu's began.

Mating and finding a mate was just one of many aspects that had to be heavily scrutinized and controlled to keep the kikkaichu user from becoming a slave to his insects' natural survival imperatives. Anytime an Aburame showed interest romantically, it had to be verified by independent parties that it was not only the kikkaichu insistence that the targeted individual was an appropriate genetic match, but that the Aburame themselves had an emotional attachment to the other individual as well. It was only after it was established that both the colony and the host had at least equal interest (or hopefully the human had more of a stake) that preparations could be made to safely pursue the subject of interest.

Shino had just started the embarrassing process of requesting an evaluation of his attraction to TenTen when they had been assigned their mission. He had meditated and taken all the precautions he had felt were necessary to keep himself from reacting too strongly to TenTen's presence, which would have been sufficient if they had not been force to go off script. Something that he was not finding out did not have to go as out of hand as it had.

"Look I got the serial killer," Kiba tried to defend, some of his earlier bravo coming back allowing him to put more confidence into his argument. "The guy was dead; D. E. A. D. They weren't in any danger. We completed the mission. What's the big deal?"

"The 'big deal' is, what if he had a partner?" the Hokage yelled back, but she did not stop there.

"The 'big deal' is that missions like that one are never complete until everyone comes home safe." At that particular point Kiba again looked sheepish.

"The 'big deal' is that one of my shinobi took it upon himself to play match maker in a life and death situation that has resulted in one of his teammates being forced into another life and death decision that..."

If the situation had have been different, it would have been comical the way both Kiba and Shino whipped their gazes to each other, then to the fuming Hokage and then back to each other, as if they were silently asking each other to confirm what they thought they had heard. Neither one of them got to actually ask a question however because Shizune came quickly to her feet to grab the Hokage's shoulder.

"Lady Tsunade! You cannot disclose..."

"All right, Shizune!" Tsunade-sama barked back.

"Oh fuck, you don't mean..."

The blonde woman's glare stopped Kiba from finishing his statement. Shino had never quite understood why people used the phrase 'like bugs crawling under my skin' to describe something uncomfortable, until now. Unlike the comforting feeling of his kikkaichu transversing within him, this 'crawling' sensation made him want to scratch and dig and his heart and gut to make the panic like emotion go away.

"The only reason you are being slapped on the wrist instead of being discharged is because TenTen refuses to acknowledge your roll in her predicament," Lady Tsunade confessed, earning her a hissing reproach from her personal assistant for again letting too much information out. After several deep breaths, the Hokage straightened herself to her full height and addressed the defendant firmly and without emotion.

"You, Inuzuka Kiba are being demoted to the rank of Chuunin for a period of no less than a year."

Through his kikkaichu, Shino saw Kiba's rightfully surprised gape. It truly was a minor punishment for a transgression that if prosecuted to the letter of the law, would have exiled Kiba from the village for a much longer time.

"You are also limited to D-class missions for half of that time."

Now there was a flinch from the dog-nin, but Kiba did not protest and instead gravely accepted his reprimand from his commanding officer. His uncharacteristic stoic posture was ruined when Kiba fully turned to his teammate and everything about the Inuzuka seemed to wilt.

Shino knew what Kiba was looking for. His friend had accepted that he had allowed a breach of protocol and deserved his professional punishment, but now he wanted Shino to weigh in. Even with Kiba looking like the whipped puppy he undoubtedly felt like, Shino was in no condition, or in the mood, to either assuage his friend's guilt or punish him for his actions.

"You are dismissed."

Kiba did not immediately respond, but when he realized that Shino was not going to acknowledge him, Kiba dropped his head and silently left the room. For some unknown reason, Shino felt the need to be obtuse. Maybe he was still in denial of the facts or perhaps he had not processed the situation fully, but when the door closed behind Kiba, Shino found himself asking what was probably the stupidest question to ever leave his mouth.

"Why am I here, if not to give witness in this hearing?"

Before answering Tsunade dismissed the two ANBU required for hearing such as this one and asked Shizune for a pair of scrolls the apprentice carried in her satchel before dismissing her as well. The Hokage offered Shino a seat next to her but the younger shinobi declined, preferring to stand and hear what Lady Tsunade had to say.

"I assume you recognize this," the blonde woman asked holding up one of the scrolls, knowing of course that he would.

"It is the waiver I signed once as a genin, and then again at every promotion," Shino answered.

Every employed shinobi had a personal contract with the village they worked for. It was a simple outline of the types of missions that would and would not be acceptable to the ninja and the expected compensation for services rendered per level of assignment. Shino's personal contract was very much like other shinobi of his caliber with one stark difference. It was stated explicitly because of his clan's particular limitations that he would never be asked to perform any mission that required seduction on his part.

"And do you know what this one is," she asked holding the other older, more richly decorated scroll up for his inspection.

"It is the Aburame terms of contract to the Village Hidden in the Leaves," Shino supplied needlessly.

For the first time in his memory, Shino saw his Hokage hedge before continuing on.

"I am obligated not only by my signatures on these documents but by the power of my station to remind you of certain clauses," Lady Tsunade looked around the desktop longingly, probably hoping that a sake bottle would magically appear. "Are you sure you won't sit down?"

Shino again shook his head fearing that if he sat he would crumble into himself. The Hokage gave one last deep sigh, messaged the space between her eyes and then fixed her shinobi with a serious, but empathic stare.

"Aburame Shino in section 37 subsection 2 of your personal contract as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, you have elected to waive any and all parental rights to a child conceived during execution of a mission, whether it be an assigned target, an ancillary or an assigned team member."

Shino's eyes slammed shut behind his impenetrable goggles as if he could block out reality by blacking out the light. Some naive part of him was hoping that he had interrupted incorrectly the pervious conversation, but now it was impossible to ignore; he had gotten TenTen pregnant.

When he had signed his shinobi agreement to the village all those years ago, he had not thought twice about initialing that particular clause in his contract, because in his mind it simply had not been a possibility. Without pause Lady Tsunade continued, unaware of his skyrocketing distress.

"You have also agreed to a Vow of Discretion in which you cannot divulge the nature of your relationship to the child or the circumstances of its birth without explicit permission of the mother or her clan."

The kikkaichu within him started to hum with irritation, but Shino easily set them silent even though he had to clench his own teeth to keep himself from exclaiming anger at being contractually obligated to ignore his own child. And still the Hokage continued.

"The Aburame Clan in their Terms of Contract have declared that they recognize that although there is a binding agreement that no Aburame will be required to perform intercourse as part of a mission, there are sometimes extenuating circumstances. And as such, the Aburame Clan agree to not seek custody of a child conceived outside the clan in such a manner, however they have reserved the right to claim the child if the mother should choose to carry to term, but decides to not raise the child."

Shino felt an unusual and unnatural calmness flow over him and found himself sinking slowly into the seat the Hokage had offered him earlier. Logically he knew himself well enough to know that he should be a hornet's nest of nerves, but apparently he had slipped passed anxiety and straight into shock. And without looking up from the scrolls in front of her, the Lady Tsunade soldiered on.

"In addition to you and your clan's position in this matter, I can relay to you that the second party in this discussion has also signed a personal contract that inhibits her from seeking support for herself or the child from either you or the Aburame Clan and that a Vow of Discretion is also in her contract and she cannot without explicit permission from you, divulge the nature of your relationship to the child."

Inside the bubble of shock Shino was cocooned in, his kikkaichu awakened enough to 'voice' their displeasure at having TenTen cooly referred to as a second party. Shino noted their reaction absently, and when the Hokage laid her hand on his forearm, the Aburame heir could barely muster the interest to look her way.

"Shino I also have to inform you that according to her personal contract, TenTen has reserved the right to terminate the pregnancy."

"No!"

Both Lady Tsunade and Shino were surprised by his passionate outburst. Something visceral inside him rebelled violently at the thought of his child being aborted. Whether it was himself or his kikkaichu that was reacting it was impossible for him to tell.

"Shino, as a kunoichi who is regularly asked to..."

"I know, I am sorry, " Shino quickly cut in, reining in his suddenly out of control emotions and kikkaichu.

He knew what was in a kunoichi contract, he had read Hinata's which unsurprisingly had a 'no intercourse' addendum much like his own due to her position in her clan. Within the rest of it was the standard clause that allowed the kunoichi to decided if they wish to keep a child conceived during a mission.

For Hinata, the freedom to decide her own fate had been perfectly logical to Shino, and he still could not imagine the sweet, gentle Hyuuga being forced to carry the offspring of a target that most likely was disreputable at best. However, now he was on the other side of that equation, and logic had nothing to do with his current feelings.

"I just..." he was forced to stop in order to call his kikkaichu back from an all out exodus. They were desperate to assess the condition of what they considered 'their' progeny. After a long, slow breath Shino felt calm enough to keep his swarm in check and ask his last question.

"How long until..." and still he found that he could not bring himself to ask.

"By contract TenTen has two more weeks to decide." Shino nodded in concession that in as little as two weeks time he could cease being a father.

"And Shino," Lady Tsunade continued squeezing his forearm before patting it in what he guessed was suppose to be comfort. "Neither you nor your clan are allowed to influence TenTen either for or against terminating her pregnancy therefore no Aburame may attempt to make contact with her until she decides."

Silence followed Shino's second nod of acceptance. It was still several minutes after that before the Hokage stood from the table, gathered the scrolls in one hand and placed her other on Shino's shoulder.

"I am truly sorry it has to be this way Shino."

This time he did not acknowledge the Hokage's words and instead sat perfectly still in a vain attempt to find some quiet center within himself. By contract, he was not allowed to speak of this to anyone; not his family, not his friends and especially not TenTen. He supposed that he could seek Kiba out, as he already knew, but Shino was not certain how he felt about his friend indirect involvement in this situation to begin with.

Not being able to quell the need to be unconfined, Shino left the ANBU offices, ignoring all attempts by acquaintances to engage him in conversation. In was not until he was outside in the glaring sunlight did Shino pause in his flight.

"It's a lot to take in like this isn't it?"

The kikkaichu swarmed in-mass from his body, circled him once before invading the deep shadows against the ANBU offices' wall behind him. Through their senses, Shino catalogued every aspect of the woman standing there.

TenTen outwardly looked no different, save for a slight darkening to the skin under her eyes, most likely a result of disrupted sleep. Other signals however told a completely different story. Although they were presently faint, pregnancy pheromones were easily detected by his insects, as were other chemical scents that were unique to TenTen herself.

While his insects swarmed and inspected her, Shino found that he was at a complete loss as to what to do. While he had been prohibited from contacting her, there was nothing stopping TenTen from seeking him out; a scenario he had not thought plausible.

"Yes, it is," Shino responded to her question, slightly embarrassed that despite his efforts, his kikkaichu were refusing to return to him at present.

If Shino thought his humiliation was complete, he was proven wrong when with hundreds of thousands of eyes, Shino observed TenTen bemused expression as the kikkaichu insisted that she step slightly away from the wall she leaned against so that the insects could 'frisk' her. At one point TenTen cried out in indignation when a small gang of adventurous kikkaichu became too emphatic about checking ALL of her for adequate health.

Shino was forced to give an actual verbal command to recall his kikkaichu, whom reluctantly complied, but once they were sequestered within him, Shino was surprised at how still the hive was, seemingly content to resume their pervious duties as if everything was status quo.

"It sucks a little bit that Kiba got zinged like that,' TenTen offered when the silence stretched out uncomfortably between them "But I guess it's better than keeping his rank and being suspended for a year."

"I would have to agree, however I must admit will enjoy seeing him mucking the farm stalls for a few months."

TenTen was still behind him in the shadows, and with his kikkaichu curiously content and going about mundane daily activities, it was left up to Shino's own knowledge of TenTen to determine if her soft laughter at his statement was genuine or forced. He had hoped that his endeavor to lighten the mood would be well received, and by the sedate silence that followed, Shino thought maybe he had succeeded.

"The fireflies will be out by then," TenTen told him offhandedly, coming to stand next to him, placing her hands on the railing in front of them that overlooked the street below. "And the Summer festivals will..."

"I want to know," Shino found himself cutting in, afraid that if he thought about it too long he would loose the courage to tell her.

"What?"

"I want to know when you decide, whatever it is that you decide," Shino clarified and was surprised by her embarrassed laughter.

"Well, consider yourself told, then."

Shino stiffened then, realizing that TenTen had not actually given him a clear answer to whether she planned to terminate her pregnancy, his child. Unable to resist the urge any longer, Shino turned fully towards the kunoichi and found that while a blush dusted her cheeks TenTen's eyes were clear and determined, and there was no subterfuge.

"Shino, I am a shinobi. It's all I've ever wanted to be, but I became a ninja to protect life, not to end it." TenTen gave him a small nervous smile and Shino found himself drawing closer to her, which seemed to intensify her blush, and with a hidden smirk Shino noted that not only did TenTen not pull away, she leaned slightly in towards him in return.

"I will not do anything that will... I just won't," TenTen promised him in a small voice as she nervously bit her lip. "But there's always a chance this early that..."

"There is no chance, why?" Shino interrupted, not liking the distress he felt coming from her. "You will not miscarry as you are more than a capable woman and the Aburame are known to be strong breeders."

It was not until after he had spoken that Shino realized what he had said (while still accurate) sounded more than a just a little bit arrogant. Now TenTen was biting her lip to keep from laughing at him, which he found to be far more agreeable than her being put-off by his direct nature.

"Well, I guess I better start looking for a bigger apartment then."

And with that simple statement Shino was reminded that he and TenTen were not a couple and despite her resolve to keep their child, she had made no overt overture to wanting him to have an active roll in its upbringing.

At this juncture Shino was not sure what he should or could do. TenTen had been the one to contact him which made this meeting possible, but he was still obligated to leave her alone until the two week period was over. Even though she had told him she was keeping the baby, she was allowed to change her mind up until that deadline and any initiated contact on his part might be construed as him trying to influence her. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to be there, he wanted to know his child, but unless TenTen wanted it too, there was nothing he could do.

"The fireflies will be out by the time the baby's born," she commented wistfully, her gaze long over the village below them. "I can leave the windows open for the breeze. That will be nice."

Shino flinched a little. No Aburame would dream of leaving a newborn's summer window open. With a larvae queen newly infused, it was dangerous to allow 'wild' insects around the infant before a full bond was formed. Of course TenTen was not Aburame, and even if he was granted his wish to be a father to his child, the likelihood that TenTen would allow their offspring to be infused and initiated into the Aburame Clan was slim.

For the first time since he had called back his kikkaichu, Shino felt his colony react to the conversation he and TenTen were having. A buzz of protest was starting to resonate in his core, and the more he fought it the more insistent the swarm became, until Shino was compelled to say something.

"TenTen..."

"TenTen!"

At the same moment Shino called her name, a very loud and familiar voice called up from the street. Waving wildly, and with undue enthusiasm, Rock Lee jumped and gyrated until TenTen lifted her own hand in recognition. The younger Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha smiled brightly to his female teammate soft grin and whooped in accomplishment at being able to gain her attention. Lee roughly nudged Neji at his side and the Hyuuga barely acknowledged the tap at his stared fixedly at TenTen.

"That's my team. I need to give them the bad news."

Both Shino and his kikkaichu took immediate offense. Their spawn was in no way 'bad news' and Shino found himself feeling a strange mix of righteous indignation and hurt rejection. He did not know what to think of this mix of emotions, but looking over at TenTen's obvious discomfort and nervousness his own agitation quelled.

"It is unlikely that this will be bad new, why?" Shino began drawing TenTen's attention from her teammates. "You are a valuable member of your team and your presence will be missed, yes, but you are respected and cherished. I do not see your team disrespecting your decision."

It took a moment, but TenTen responded to his words with a radiant smile that made his heart skip a beat.

"You're right, of course you're right," she agreed, and Shino wondered if she realized that she was protectively caressing her abdomen. "I'm just nervous, I guess."

"There is no need. You will always be cared for. If not by them then..."

Shino cut himself short, realizing that he had almost said something that would surely be viewed as an attempt on his part to persuade TenTen to keep his child.

"Thanks," TenTen told him, bumping her shoulder against his. "I guess I better tell them. And Shino? Thanks for, I don't know, being cool about all of this."

Shino did not respond, but his kikkaichu quieted while his heart sped up. It was not until TenTen leapt down to greet her teammates that Shino began to realize that he was truly feeling two distinctly different emotions. Just as the advisors had indicated, if he had true real feelings for TenTen beyond his kikkaichu's desire to procreate, he and his kikkaichu would react differently to specific stimuli in regard to his intended.

His kikkaichu had no difficultly with allowing TenTen to leave with her longtime teammates, while Shino the man, looked on in jealously as Neji stood a little too close and lean in a little too far for his liking. As far as the kikkaichu were concerned, as long as TenTen did nothing to jeopardize their spawn. They were content to let her live her life away from them, while Shino rebelled at the very thought of never claiming his own child, of being stuck being 'Mommy's weird friend'.

Shino did not need his Aburame advisor any longer to tell him TenTen was what he wanted. She was, as Kiba had said perviously, perfect for him. She was the ideal mix of beauty, humor, caring, intelligence and she had that extra something that his kikkaichu responded to. How did one go about seducing someone they had already impregnated?

Shino was not sure how, but as he watched TenTen walk away, a male she had close personal ties to on either side, he decided that he would do his best to win the heart of the woman that already owned his. As close as he figured, he had eight months before the baby was born to convince TenTen he was the one for her and that she could not live without him.

So, as was his nature, Shino hunkered down and awaited the coming of the invincible summer, biding his time, and formulating a plan to win all that was worth winning.

I thrive on constructive criticism and cookies, not flames.

Kat

The title I took from a quote from Albert Camus

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.

I'm thinking of maybe doing a mature version of this story. Tell me what you think.


	2. Chapter 1 M version

Writing a mature scene in flashback is a lot harder than I thought it would be, especially from Shino's POV. Hope you guys enjoy!

Kat

A Naruto Fanfiction

Waiting for An Invincible Summer

(Mature version)

Aburame Shino and TenTen

When he found out about Kiba's disciplinary hearing, Shino was not excessively surprised. Kiba had always skated the edge of outright insubordination. Not from any real desire to rebel or to cause anarchy, but because Kiba was a very accomplished and a very powerful alpha male. It simply was very difficult for him to follow someone else's orders, at least without argument. Shino was, however, taken aback when he had been required to be in attendance.

He had not been told the exact transgression, but the hearing was closed which did not bode well. Classified disciplinary hearings usually meant expulsion from the village, life imprisonment or a form of dishonorable discharge that resulted in one's chakra being sealed. There simply was not anything Shino could imagine Kiba doing that would warrant such harsh punishment.

When he arrived at the ANBU offices, Shino was immediately ushered to a small room where Kiba was sitting alone against one wall, his booted feet up on a nondescript folding table in front of him. Knowing Kiba as he did, Shino could tell that his genin teammate was not just giving off the air of nonchalance, the dog-nin was truly unconcerned about his current predicament, which relieved Shino greatly.

"Hey there, Bugman," Kiba called out, grinning but not removing his hands from behind his head.

"I suppose it would be useless to ask why we are here," Shino replied, standing between Kiba's table and the other more official looking wooden table at the other side of the room.

"Che, I was hopin' you knew."

Not having direction on what to do, Shino opted for standing were he was, but he did not have to wait long. After only a few minutes, the door swung open allowing two ANBU, the Hokage and Shizune in.

"You," Lady Tsunade barked, pointing her finger at Shino, "in the chair back there, be quiet, I'll talk to you after."

Shino easily slid around the other occupants in the room without comment, to sit in the only chair that was not pulled up to the wooden table.

"You," she continued changing the direction of her accusing finger to Kiba, "If it wasn't for your perfect, clean record you would have already been dismissed from duty and held in lockup until my mood improves."

The Hokage marched the few feet over to Kiba, causing the younger man to rear back in his tilted seat until he overbalanced enough to force him to grab the table top edge or topple over.

"And the way I'm feeling right now I won't be happy for a very," she creeped in closer over the table, and Kiba arched back

"Very," she got closer pushing the young man back farther.

"Very," one more time Lady Tsunade leaned into Kiba until her nose nearly touched the other man, and only the fist she made in his shirt kept him from hitting the floor.

"Very long time. So I suggest you stop treating this like some simple dressing down for forgetting to turn in your mission reports and start realizing this is as serious as it get Inuzuka Kiba."

When Tsunade-sama pulled back she bodily picked Kiba up and tossed him back into his chair. By the time the young Jounin steadied himself with both feet on the ground, Lady Tsunade had come to the front of the wooden table and picked up the paper Shino had seen Shizune place there.

Although her stance was relaxed as she leaned one hip on the wooden desk, the way the paper crinkled and crushed in her grip showed all of her frustration, anger and disappointment as clearly as her voice did when she read the charge against his friend.

"Inuzuka Kiba, you are accused of treason against the Hidden Leaf Village. How do you plead?"

"WHAT?" the accused demanded and Shino felt the answering disbelief in his Hive.

Kiba had never once displayed behavior that could have remotely have been construed as treason in Shino's presence. In fact, Kiba was one of only a handful of individuals that Shino trusted with his life.

"Whoever said that is a damn liar," Kiba continued and Shino was inclined to agree, though he would not have come out so directly saying so.

"Lady Tsunade," Shizune cut in nervously, "maybe I should read the full set of charges."

"Whatever, here," Tsunade-sama agreed offhandedly as she stood upright, tossing the paper behind her without looking so that she could keep glaring at Shino's childhood friend.

Absently, Shino's surveillance drones watched as Shizune scrambled to try to pluck the paper from the air as it violently twisted in the currents created by Lady Tsunade's harsh throw, while his own eyes observed the raging emotions playing out on Kiba's face.

The same anger, frustration and disappointment that was in the Hokage's body language was there in Kiba also. Kiba was a difficult team member sometimes and he was, at best, rough around the edges, but his honor and loyalty was unquestionable. For Kiba to be accused of treason was a crime in and of itself in Shino's mind.

After catching the charges and clearing her throat, Shizune spoke out in a clear voice.

"Inuzuka Kiba is accused of treason against the Hidden Leaf Village as he did willfully and knowingly endangered his teammates during the execution of mission LT587-3-A."

"Huh?" came Kiba eloquent rebuttal as the same confusion that soften the Inuzuka's face ran rampant in Shino's head.

He had been one of Kiba's teammates on that particular mission, which probably explained his presence here. The other assigned member of the mission had been TenTen.

Remembering the exact details of that mission made Shino once again very glad he followed his clan's tendencies to wear face concealing clothing as heat raced up his neck and into his cheeks. Just to make certain that his embarrassment was not seen, Shino ducked his head farther into his undercoat's collar.

"I wouldn't do that. I didn't do that! What the hell? Shino tell them."

It was the desperate pleading in Kiba's voice that allowed Shino to overcome his personal hang-up and embarrassment, and assist his friend.

"Lady Tsunade, if I may, I do not remember being, as was stated, 'willfully and knowingly endangered' during that particular mission," Shino countered rationally with the truth. While the mission had not gone as planed, they had made it out without serious injury and that had been mainly due to Kiba's dogged pursuit of their intended target.

"You don't remember it because you were otherwise occupied attempting to keep the mission solvent while it was falling apart all around you."

Knowing that they could not see it, Shino cut his eyes to the side, but otherwise remained motionless. The assignment had been to track down a serial killer that had been targeting large city night spots throughout the Fire country. He and Kiba were to track, and since she seemed to fit the general profile of the victims, TenTen had been functioning as the bait. Everything had been going according to their intentions when the killer had caught Shino conversing with TenTen after another seemingly unsuccessful night of trying to draw him out.

He had identified their voyeur through his kikkaichu as their target, however the killer had not been what they were told to expect. He had been a very high ranking ninja, high enough that Shino had been unable to get a true fix on his location. Knowing that he would not be able to track their target, and unable to contact Kiba without being obvious, Shino and had done what he thought was best to maintain TenTen's cover.

"Now I know you're full of shit,' Kiba bellowed out, causing Shino to focus back on the present.

Kiba had jumped up from his chair, slamming his palms on the table all but growling as his slitted eyes narrowed and his teeth ground together. However when the Hokage abandoned her unsuccessful attempt at aloofness and again came nose to nose with Kiba, the younger man was forced back into his chair.

"Want to say that again?"

"I, ah, I had their back the whole t-time. I never left them with-without cover," Kiba stuttered out, obviously uncomfortable with being alpha challenged in a situation where he could not respond as his instincts demanded. Shino knew from many off-duty visits to Kiba's home that if this had been his mother, the two dog ninja would have already been scraping on the floor trading full punches and mild insults. However, something like that would be completely inappropriate to the Hokage.

"Ah, yes the whole time," Lady Tsunade hummed condescendingly. "However you seem to be leaving out the part where you allowed them to continue trying to maintain cover AFTER you had neutralized the threat."

Shino's eyes flew back up to focus on Kiba and his friend's surprised and...guilty face. Kiba had taken out the target before he and TenTen...

'No, it is not true' was all Shino's mind could come up with, because he would not except any other answer. He trusted Kiba completely. To even contemplate his betrayal was unthinkable.

"How did you..." Kiba started to ask, but his voice trailed away as shoulders, head and eyes dropped in a display of complete submission.

"How did we find out? The timing didn't line up. According to TenTen's medic, which is me, and the medical examiner, which is Shizune, the target died a full hour BEFORE you told them."

Memories that he had been refusing to look back at for the last month whorled in Shino's head. His hive was stunned into silence as their master counted back the minutes with his genius level mind and nearly photographic memory.

An hour pervious to Kiba jauntily informing him that the mission was complete would have been just after Shino had decided that just kissing TenTen in the alley behind the club was not enough to draw out their target and he had progressed to a more...aggressive display.

"I didn't... I mean, I just...they..."

Kiba did not need to fully vocalize his actions for Shino to understand what must have happened. Kiba was a dear and wonderful friend, but sometimes he was an impossible ass that acted on instinct and impulse rather than assessing the consequences of his actions.

As clearly as if he had been witness to it, Shino could see Kiba using not only his own senses but the kikkaichu as well to tract down the target, it simply was the way of their partnership.

It was Shino's long years of knowing the crazy Inuzuka in and out of combat that helped him piece together a scenario where Kiba must have returned to his teammates and found them 'engaged' with each other. The blush that was evident despite the crimson marking on Kiba's cheeks told Shino that his friend had contemplated the embarrassing move of interrupting he and TenTen, but the way Kiba refused to fully meet his eye line also told Shino that Kiba and consciously decided to allow the coupling to continue.

"She's perfect for you Shino and you can't tell me you don't think she's hot," Kiba grinned showing all his teeth and tapping his nose indicating that he could sense Shino's unconscious reaction to TenTen's presence. "You gotta try askin' her out, man. You never know unless you try."

Shino clearly remembered the conversation and his noncommittal reaction of a shrug. Maybe if he had have told Kiba the truth none of this would have happened. Shino had every intention of pursuing TenTen as some point, but it had been too soon for such ventures. It was unwise and somewhat dangerous for an Aburame hosting a colony to engage in a romantic or even physical relationship before they had full control of certain aspects of their kikkaichu.

Like the Inuzuka, the Aburame were tied intimately with the animals they commanded, but unlike Kiba who had received Akamaru as a young boy, Shino had been in constant contact since birth with his kikkaichu. The inevitable consequences of being under the influences of the insects were that Shino was not always sure where his want and will ended and the kikkaichu's began.

Mating and finding a mate was just one of many aspects that had to be heavily scrutinized and controlled to keep the kikkaichu user from becoming a slave to his insects' natural survival imperatives. Anytime an Aburame showed interest romantically, it had to be verified by independent parties that it was not only the kikkaichu insistence that the targeted individual was an appropriate genetic match, but that the Aburame themselves had an emotional attachment to the other individual as well. It was only after it was established that both the colony and the host had at least equal interest (or hopefully the human had more of a stake) that preparations could be made to safely pursue the subject of interest.

Shino had just started the embarrassing process of requesting an evaluation of his attraction to TenTen when they had been assigned their mission. He had meditated and taken all the precautions he had felt were necessary to keep himself from reacting too strongly to TenTen's presence, which might have been sufficient if they had not been force to go off script. Something that he was now finding out did not have to go as out of hand as it had.

Initiating physical contact with TenTen had not been a decision Shino had taken lightly. However, he had arrogantly assumed that because he had meditated deeply prior to the mission to establish a stronger dominance over his kikkaichu and had purged all male drones from his colony, whose only purpose was to generate pheromones, he would nullify TenTen's affect on his kikkaichu. Now looking back, Shino realized he should have listened to his father and declined the mission.

He had been unprepared for the resourcefulness of his kikkaichu. Unbeknownst to him, the colony had bred a new batch of male drones, most likely during that first night he, TenTen and Kiba had spent together while he had slept near her. As his father had warned him, his kikkaichu had already selected TenTen and they saw no reason to delay pursuing her.

He had deluded himself into thinking he was in control of the situation, or more accurately, the kikkaichu had allowed him to believe he was in control. Most likely they had seen their opportunity to strike when he had started kissing TenTen, and being extraordinarily efficient, they had acted.

Shino remembered being so very proud of himself that he had been able to control his reactions, keeping the contact between he and TenTen to lips only and his hands on the wall behind her. He had purposely allowed TenTen to direct their actions, not only because he had no idea what he was doing and she obviously did, but also because the less he paid attention to the feel, touch and taste of her, the more in control he had felt.

As was commonplace for him, Shino's attention had been split between the activities of his kikkaichu and those of his own body. It never occurred to him that the kikkaichu themselves had spilt their focus between two goals. One had been to protect their host and the other was to, by any and all means possible, procreate with TenTen.

Shino now wondered if the colony had even gone so far as to lie to him about not being able to locate the target, in order to trick him into maintaining the 'cover' he had been attempting to give TenTen.

It would have never occurred to him to think it strange that he was both testing the air in the alley and the surrounding buildings for traces of his prey and tasting the drink TenTen had earlier on his lips. His concern for TenTen's safety and the amount of focus he had put into tracking down the killer, had allowed his kikkaichu the time they had needed to bath him, and most likely TenTen, with pheromones. So when the hive thought it was more important to tilt his head and thrust his tongue against her invading one he did not fight it.

In the back corner of Shino's consciousness, he had to have known that he and TenTen were safe, but the kikkaichu had not allowed it to come to the forefront and dispel the web of lust the colony had created. As near perfect as his memory was, Shino could not clearly pinpoint when 'he' had 'decided' to carry his and TenTen's playacting to the next level. They had been simply kissing for sometime, but he suspected his 'decision' was influenced by a pair of cool hands stealing under his shirt and gripped his lower back.

From that moment forward, his recollections were a strange mixture of very vague and very specific.

He clearly remembered chasing after TenTen when she had pulled back to draw in a full breath. There had not been much room between them to begin with, so it only took one step forward for him to pin TenTen between himself and the wall. Shino realized with embarrassment that his naivety had been telling when he had discovered too late that the closeness of their bodies and his taller frame had made it near impossible for him to capture TenTen's mouth again. In frustration, Shino's hands had come off the wall.

Not willing to allow any space between them, one of his arms had gone under hers and the other had wrapped all the way around her lower back to the opposite hip so that he could lift TenTen up off her toes, dragging her against his body.

On that night, Shino had dressed as to not be conspicuous in the night club scene. There had been no undercoat, no overcoat, and without those barriers he had felt how hot her core was against him compared to her limbs. The only moment Shino remembered doubting his actions had been when he had bent his head to recapture TenTen's lips only to have her turn her face away.

For a brief moment he had paused, concerned that he had gone too far, but before Shino could have pulled away, TenTen had arched her back. He had not fully realize how strong she was until TenTen was able to, with only the strength of her torso, pushed some space between them.

Her head and shoulders against the wall and her pelvis tight against his own, Shino would have interpreted the action as TenTen's attempt to get away if not for the seam ripping grip she had had on his sleeves and the quietly uttered 'fuck, Shino' she had hissed through clenched teeth.

Things had gone a bit hazy after that.

Somehow Shino had managed to pull down both shoulders of TenTen's square necked top, trapping her arms at her sides. Which had worked out well for him since it had only taken a small tug on the neckline with his teeth for Shino to expose TenTen's breasts.

Looking back now, Shino could not fathom how he could have been so bold, but he had not hesitated in running the flat of his tongue across the top of one mound, down across her sternum and then under TenTen's other breast only to flick the tip of his tongue over her hardened nipple making her hiss his name again.

Shino supposed that he had been listening to Kiba's sexual exploits closer than he had originally thought. Either that or his friend was correct in saying that sex was an instinctual not an intellectual thing as his advisors had told him. Not that Shino had been thinking of his friend or his clan as he had bitten down lightly on the roughened nipple under his lips, before pulling the swollen flesh into his mouth and sucking to lessen the slight sting.

Shino could not recall feeling self-conscious or exposed being in that alley where anyone could have happened by. The only concern he had at the time was making sure TenTen kept grinding against him, and making those mewing kitten noises he had barely been able to hear over the rush of blood in his ears.

The Hokage had said they had copulated for a full hour, and while Shino could not account for every minute of that time, he imagined it would have taken him that long to have covered every uncovered inch of TenTen's skin with tongue, teeth and lips. And the longer Shino had worked at it, the more skin he had exposed to taste.

By now Shino had given in, and admitted that his kikkaichu had to have been affecting TenTen's hormones along with his own. Why else would she have allowed him to tug her top under both of her breasts so that they were hoisted enticingly upward, so that he could enjoy them being exposed to the chilly night air? TenTen was a smart, sensible girl and she had to have known that it would not have been strictly necessary for him to require TenTen to tell him what she wanted him to do to her.

In truth sex had been nothing like the Aburame advisors had told him to expect and it had probably added to the illusion that Shino himself had been in control and not the colony. Shino had felt no desire to have the act completed quickly so that he could escape. There had been a desire to take TenTen from behind, but it had not been to quell the kikkaichu's fear of being consumed by their mate either during or after mating with her. The ironic thing was, that for the first time in Shino's memory, he had felt wholly alone in his own head and body.

All of Shino's thought and focus had been on TenTen and her desires, so when she had requested to be put back on her feet, he had reluctantly complied. For a handful of breaths they had just stared at each other; he fully clothed with only the rips in his sleeves as evidence to their activities and TenTen with her hair and make-up in disarray, her top high on her belly and below her perfect breasts and her knee length skirt askew such that its manufactured slit, now ripped halfway up her thighs, was between her legs in front instead of along the side where it should have been.

TenTen had moved first, her hands had been between them working at the delicate task of freeing him from his belt and pants, a detail that Shino had not been able to focus on himself. What he had been able to, was to help TenTen bridge the gap between their mouths by leaning forward and holding her head steady with both hands.

One of the advantages Shino had found to always wearing darkened spectacles was that he could stare at anything he wished without making the subject of his scrutiny aware which he had discover early on in life unnerved most people. In that moment, the last thing Shino had wanted was TenTen to become self-conscious and stop as he had watched the way her eyes moved behind their lids and admired how her skin glistened with sweat.

Shino was not sure he had even blinked once when TenTen had pulled back enough to free the buttons of his shirt from their holes. He had waited patiently for her to finish, pacified by minutely cataloguing the sight of her bare upper torso decorated with the nips and small bruises he had given her. But Shino remembered his patience coming to an end when the task had been completed, but once again she had denied him.

TenTen had slipped right through his fingers as she had knelt down before him. It had been his intention to observe every move she made, but at the first touch of her mouth just below his bellybutton, Shino's perceptions had became hazed over with sensation. It may have been only his overactive imagination, but to Shino it had felt like TenTen had been purposely maneuvering such that the head of his penis ran along her shoulder, then her neck and finally along her jaw as she had kissed her way down from his bellybutton to the base of his cock.

After that, Shino had no clear memories of the actual coupling. He vaguely recalled TenTen's tongue dragging along his length as he yanked her away and up. He was fairly certain it had been through mutual effort that TenTen had come to be in a somewhat knelling position on his thighs, because Shino would not have thought of that posture even with his head filled with every sexual position Kiba had ever told him about.

With his hands supporting TenTen at the back of her hips and TenTen's hands using his shoulders for leverage, Shino still could not fathom how he had been able to enter her. The position had not been ideal for kissing, however it had been perfect for Shino's voyeuristic tendencies. Burned into his memory was the sight of him moving within her, of the way TenTen's muscles had strained and released, pistoning her body over him giving Shino little else to do other than to observe and feel.

If Shino never had sex again he would feel satisfied that he had had that experience with TenTen. If he had sex every day for the rest of his life, Shino had his doubts it would ever live up to his first time.

Everything Shino remembered of their actual joining was sight, sound and sensation and next to no cognitive thought. It had been nothing like he had expected, everything he could have dreamed and had a completely surreal, almost out of body experience quality.

In fact, all he could recall was fury when he had seen his kikkaichu crawling along TenTen's thighs and stomach. With irrational anger and jealousy over something that was essentially an extension of himself, Shino had transfered all of TenTen's weight to one arm so that he would be able to sweep the insects from her skin. The loss of support had come just as TenTen had started a downward stroke which had resulted in TenTen slamming down harder than she had previously.

The fireworks that had exploded in his vision upon his release had been similar to those he had seen when he had been knocked unconscious with a blow to the head. And Shino had to assume that he had lost consciousness because his very next memory was of stepping in between TenTen and Kiba, allowing the kunoichi some small privacy to cover herself while his friend relayed his story of defeating their target.

Shino had sent Kiba away with directions to secure the body for travel, while not moving from his shielding position in front of TenTen. Once the dog-nin had left, Shino allowed himself to ask after TenTen's welfare. She had seemed stunned and unsteady on her feet, an assumption that was proved to be true when TenTen had leaned her forehead against his chest, mumbling that she needed a moment.

The kikkaichu had started up a resonance in his chest that had made TenTen snicker weakly. To keep himself from giving in to his impulse to draw her back into his arms Shino had helped to straighten the sleeves of TenTen's top on her shoulders while she slid her skirt back around into proper position. They had separated without a comment of what had just happened, and when TenTen met his gaze without a hint of awkwardness or reserve it had given Shino the ability to finish their mission, though he doubted he would ever be able to look upon her the same way again.

"Look I got the serial killer," Kiba defended hotly, drawing Shino's attention back to the activities in the room. Some of Kiba's earlier bravo was coming back allowing him to put more confidence into his argument. "The guy was dead; D. E. A. D. They weren't in any danger. We completed the mission. What's the big deal?"

"The 'big deal' is, what if he had a partner?" the Hokage yelled back, but she did not stop there.

"The 'big deal' is that missions like that one are never complete until everyone comes home safe." At that particular point Kiba again looked sheepish.

"The 'big deal' is that one of my shinobi took it upon himself to play match maker in a life and death situation that has resulted in one of his teammates being forced into another life and death decision that..."

If the situation had have been different, it would have been comical the way both Kiba and Shino whipped their gazes to each other, then to the fuming Hokage and then back to each other, as if they were silently asking each other to confirm what they thought they had heard. Neither one of them got to actually ask a question however because Shizune came quickly to her feet to grab the Hokage's shoulder.

"Lady Tsunade! You cannot disclose..."

"All right, Shizune!" Tsunade-sama barked back.

"Oh fuck, you don't mean..."

The blonde woman's glare stopped Kiba from finishing his statement. Shino had never quite understood why people used the phrase 'like bugs crawling under my skin' to describe something uncomfortable, until now. Unlike the comforting feeling of his kikkaichu transversing within him, this 'crawling' sensation made him want to scratch and dig and his heart and gut to make the panic like emotion go away.

"The only reason you are being slapped on the wrist instead of being discharged is because TenTen refuses to acknowledge your roll in her predicament," Lady Tsunade confessed, earning her a hissing reproach from her personal assistant for again letting too much information out. After several deep breaths, the Hokage straightened herself to her full height and addressed the defendant firmly and without emotion.

"You, Inuzuka Kiba are being demoted to the rank of Chuunin for a period of no less than a year."

Through his kikkaichu, Shino saw Kiba's rightfully surprised gape. It truly was a minor punishment for a transgression that if prosecuted to the letter of the law, would have exiled Kiba from the village for a much longer time.

"You are also limited to D-class missions for half of that time."

Now there was a flinch from the dog-nin, but Kiba did not protest and instead gravely accepted his reprimand from his commanding officer. His uncharacteristic stoic posture was ruined when Kiba fully turned to his teammate and everything about the Inuzuka seemed to wilt.

Shino knew what Kiba was looking for. His friend had accepted that he had allowed a breach of protocol and deserved his professional punishment, but now he wanted Shino to weigh in. Even with Kiba looking like the whipped puppy he undoubtedly felt like, Shino was in no condition, or in the mood, to either assuage his friend's guilt or punish him for his actions.

"You are dismissed."

Kiba did not immediately respond, but when he realized that Shino was not going to acknowledge him, Kiba dropped his head and silently left the room. For some unknown reason, Shino felt the need to be obtuse. Maybe he was still in denial of the facts or perhaps he had not processed the situation fully, but when the door closed behind Kiba, Shino found himself asking what was probably the stupidest question to ever leave his mouth.

"Why am I here, if not to give witness in this hearing?"

Before answering Tsunade dismissed the two ANBU required for hearing such as this one and asked Shizune for a pair of scrolls the apprentice carried in her satchel before dismissing her as well. The Hokage offered Shino a seat next to her but the younger shinobi declined, preferring to stand and hear what Lady Tsunade had to say.

"I assume you recognize this," the blonde woman asked holding up one of the scrolls, knowing of course that he would.

"It is the waiver I signed once as a genin, and then again at every promotion," Shino answered.

Every employed shinobi had a personal contract with the village they worked for. It was a simple outline of the types of missions that would and would not be acceptable to the ninja and the expected compensation for services rendered per level of assignment. Shino's personal contract was very much like other shinobi of his caliber with one stark difference. It was stated explicitly because of his clan's particular limitations that he would never be asked to perform any mission that required seduction on his part.

"And do you know what this one is," she asked holding the other older, more richly decorated scroll up for his inspection.

"It is the Aburame terms of contract to the Village Hidden in the Leaves," Shino supplied needlessly.

For the first time in his memory, Shino saw his Hokage hedge before continuing on.

"I am obligated not only by my signatures on these documents but by the power of my station to remind you of certain clauses," Lady Tsunade looked around the desktop longingly, probably hoping that a sake bottle would magically appear. "Are you sure you won't sit down?"

Shino again shook his head fearing that if he sat he would crumble into himself. The Hokage gave one last deep sigh, messaged the space between her eyes and then fixed her shinobi with a serious, but empathic stare.

"Aburame Shino in section 37 subsection 2 of your personal contract as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, you have elected to waive any and all parental rights to a child conceived during execution of a mission, whether it be an assigned target, an ancillary or an assigned team member."

Shino's eyes slammed shut behind his impenetrable goggles as if he could block out reality by blacking out the light. Some naive part of him was hoping that he had interrupted incorrectly the pervious conversation, but now it was impossible to ignore; he had gotten TenTen pregnant.

When he had signed his shinobi agreement to the village all those years ago, he had not thought twice about initialing that particular clause in his contract, because in his mind it simply had not been a possibility. Without pause Lady Tsunade continued, unaware of his skyrocketing distress.

"You have also agreed to a Vow of Discretion in which you cannot divulge the nature of your relationship to the child or the circumstances of its birth without explicit permission of the mother or her clan."

The kikkaichu within him started to hum with irritation, but Shino easily set them silent even though he had to clench his own teeth to keep himself from exclaiming anger at being contractually obligated to ignore his own child. And still the Hokage continued.

"The Aburame Clan in their Terms of Contract have declared that they recognize that although there is a binding agreement that no Aburame will be required to perform intercourse as part of a mission, there are sometimes extenuating circumstances. And as such, the Aburame Clan agree to not seek custody of a child conceived outside the clan in such a manner, however they have reserved the right to claim the child if the mother should choose to carry to term, but decides to not raise the child."

Shino felt an unusual and unnatural calmness flow over him and found himself sinking slowly into the seat the Hokage had offered him earlier. Logically he knew himself well enough to know that he should be a hornet's nest of nerves, but apparently he had slipped passed anxiety and straight into shock. And without looking up from the scrolls in front of her, the Lady Tsunade soldiered on.

"In addition to you and your clan's position in this matter, I can relay to you that the second party in this discussion has also signed a personal contract that inhibits her from seeking support for herself or the child from either you or the Aburame Clan and that a Vow of Discretion is also in her contract and she cannot without explicit permission from you, divulge the nature of your relationship to the child."

Inside the bubble of shock Shino was cocooned in, his kikkaichu awakened enough to 'voice' their displeasure at having TenTen cooly referred to as a second party. Shino noted their reaction absently, and when the Hokage laid her hand on his forearm, the Aburame heir could barely muster the interest to look her way.

"Shino I also have to inform you that according to her personal contract, TenTen has reserved the right to terminate the pregnancy."

"No!"

Both Lady Tsunade and Shino were surprised by his passionate outburst. Something visceral inside him rebelled violently at the thought of his child being aborted. Whether it was himself or his kikkaichu that was reacting it was impossible for him to tell.

"Shino, as a kunoichi who is regularly asked to..."

"I know, I am sorry, " Shino quickly cut in, reining in his suddenly out of control emotions and kikkaichu.

He knew what was in a kunoichi contract, he had read Hinata's which unsurprisingly had a 'no intercourse' addendum much like his own due to her position in her clan. Within the rest of it was the standard clause that allowed the kunoichi to decided if they wish to keep a child conceived during a mission.

For Hinata, the freedom to decide her own fate had been perfectly logical to Shino, and he still could not imagine the sweet, gentle Hyuuga being forced to carry the offspring of a target that most likely was disreputable at best. However, now he was on the other side of that equation, and logic had nothing to do with his current feelings.

"I just..." he was forced to stop in order to call his kikkaichu back from an all out exodus. They were desperate to assess the condition of what they considered 'their' progeny. After a long, slow breath Shino felt calm enough to keep his swarm in check and ask his last question.

"How long until..." and still he found that he could not bring himself to ask.

"By contract TenTen has two more weeks to decide." Shino nodded in concession that in as little as two weeks time he could cease being a father.

"And Shino," Lady Tsunade continued squeezing his forearm before patting it in what he guessed was suppose to be comfort. "Neither you nor your clan are allowed to influence TenTen either for or against terminating her pregnancy therefore no Aburame may attempt to make contact with her until she decides."

Silence followed Shino's second nod of acceptance. It was still several minutes after that before the Hokage stood from the table, gathered the scrolls in one hand and placed her other on Shino's shoulder.

"I am truly sorry it has to be this way Shino."

This time he did not acknowledge the Hokage's words and instead sat perfectly still in a vain attempt to find some quiet center within himself. By contract, he was not allowed to speak of this to anyone; not his family, not his friends and especially not TenTen. He supposed that he could seek Kiba out, as he already knew, but Shino was not certain how he felt about his friend indirect involvement in this situation to begin with.

Not being able to quell the need to be unconfined, Shino left the ANBU offices, ignoring all attempts by acquaintances to engage him in conversation. In was not until he was outside in the glaring sunlight did Shino pause in his flight.

"It's a lot to take in like this isn't it?"

The kikkaichu swarmed in-mass from his body, circled him once before invading the deep shadows against the ANBU offices' wall behind him. Through their senses, Shino catalogued every aspect of the woman standing there.

TenTen outwardly looked no different, save for a slight darkening to the skin under her eyes, most likely a result of disrupted sleep. Other signals however told a completely different story. Although they were presently faint, pregnancy pheromones were easily detected by his insects, as were other chemical scents that were unique to TenTen herself.

While his insects swarmed and inspected her, Shino found that he was at a complete loss as to what to do. While he had been prohibited from contacting her, there was nothing stopping TenTen from seeking him out; a scenario he had not thought plausible.

"Yes, it is," Shino responded to her question, slightly embarrassed that despite his efforts, his kikkaichu were refusing to return to him at present.

If Shino thought his humiliation was complete, he was proven wrong when with hundreds of thousands of eyes, Shino observed TenTen bemused expression as the kikkaichu insisted that she step slightly away from the wall she leaned against so that the insects could 'frisk' her. At one point TenTen cried out in indignation when a small gang of adventurous kikkaichu became too emphatic about checking ALL of her for adequate health.

Shino was forced to give an actual verbal command to recall his kikkaichu, whom reluctantly complied, but once they were sequestered within him, Shino was surprised at how still the hive was, seemingly content to resume their pervious duties as if everything was status quo.

"It sucks a little bit that Kiba got zinged like that,' TenTen offered when the silence stretched out uncomfortably between them "But I guess it's better than keeping his rank and being suspended for a year."

"I would have to agree, however I must admit will enjoy seeing him mucking the farm stalls for a few months."

TenTen was still behind him in the shadows, and with his kikkaichu curiously content and going about mundane daily activities, it was left up to Shino's own knowledge of TenTen to determine if her soft laughter at his statement was genuine or forced. He had hoped that his endeavor to lighten the mood would be well received, and by the sedate silence that followed, Shino thought maybe he had succeeded.

"The fireflies will be out by then," TenTen told him offhandedly, coming to stand next to him, placing her hands on the railing in front of them that overlooked the street below. "And the Summer festivals will..."

"I want to know," Shino found himself cutting in, afraid that if he thought about it too long he would loose the courage to tell her.

"What?"

"I want to know when you decide, whatever it is that you decide," Shino clarified and was surprised by her embarrassed laughter.

"Well, consider yourself told, then."

Shino stiffened then, realizing that TenTen had not actually given him a clear answer to whether she planned to terminate her pregnancy, his child. Unable to resist the urge any longer, Shino turned fully towards the kunoichi and found that while a blush dusted her cheeks TenTen's eyes were clear and determined, and there was no subterfuge.

"Shino, I am a shinobi. It's all I've ever wanted to be, but I became a ninja to protect life, not to end it." TenTen gave him a small nervous smile and Shino found himself drawing closer to her, which seemed to intensify her blush, and with a hidden smirk Shino noted that not only did TenTen not pull away, she leaned slightly in towards him in return.

"I will not do anything that will... I just won't," TenTen promised him in a small voice as she nervously bit her lip. "But there's always a chance this early that..."

"There is no chance, why?" Shino interrupted, not liking the distress he felt coming from her. "You will not miscarry as you are more than a capable woman and the Aburame are known to be strong breeders."

It was not until after he had spoken that Shino realized what he had said (while still accurate) sounded more than a just a little bit arrogant. Now TenTen was biting her lip to keep from laughing at him, which he found to be far more agreeable than her being put-off by his direct nature.

"Well, I guess I better start looking for a bigger apartment then."

And with that simple statement Shino was reminded that he and TenTen were not a couple and despite her resolve to keep their child, she had made no overt overture to wanting him to have an active roll in its upbringing.

At this juncture Shino was not sure what he should or could do. TenTen had been the one to contact him which made this meeting possible, but he was still obligated to leave her alone until the two week period was over. Even though she had told him she was keeping the baby, she was allowed to change her mind up until that deadline and any initiated contact on his part might be construed as him trying to influence her. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to be there, he wanted to know his child, but unless TenTen wanted it too, there was nothing he could do.

"The fireflies will be out by the time the baby's born," she commented wistfully, her gaze long over the village below them. "I can leave the windows open for the breeze. That will be nice."

Shino flinched a little. No Aburame would dream of leaving a newborn's summer window open. With a larvae queen newly infused, it was dangerous to allow 'wild' insects around the infant before a full bond was formed. Of course TenTen was not Aburame, and even if he was granted his wish to be a father to his child, the likelihood that TenTen would allow their offspring to be infused and initiated into the Aburame Clan was slim.

For the first time since he had called back his kikkaichu, Shino felt his colony react to the conversation he and TenTen were having. A buzz of protest was starting to resonate in his core, and the more he fought it the more insistent the swarm became, until Shino was compelled to say something.

"TenTen..."

"TenTen!"

At the same moment Shino called her name, a very loud and familiar voice called up from the street. Waving wildly, and with undue enthusiasm, Rock Lee jumped and gyrated until TenTen lifted her own hand in recognition. The younger Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha smiled brightly to his female teammate's soft grin and whooped in accomplishment at being able to gain her attention. Lee roughly nudged Neji at his side and the Hyuuga barely acknowledged the tap as he stared fixedly at TenTen.

"That's my team. I need to give them the bad news."

Both Shino and his kikkaichu took immediate offense. Their spawn was in no way 'bad news' and Shino found himself feeling a strange mix of righteous indignation and hurt rejection. He did not know what to think of this mix of emotions, but looking over at TenTen's obvious discomfort and nervousness his own agitation quelled.

"It is unlikely that this will be bad new, why?" Shino began drawing TenTen's attention from her teammates. "You are a valuable member of your team and your presence will be missed, yes, but you are respected and cherished. I do not see your team disrespecting your decision."

It took a moment, but TenTen responded to his words with a radiant smile that made his heart skip a beat.

"You're right, of course you're right," she agreed, and Shino wondered if she realized that she was protectively caressing her abdomen. "I'm just nervous, I guess."

"There is no need. You will always be cared for. If not by them then..."

Shino cut himself short, realizing that he had almost said something that would surely be viewed as an attempt on his part to persuade TenTen to keep his child.

"Thanks," TenTen told him, bumping her shoulder against his. "I guess I better tell them. And Shino? Thanks for, I don't know, being cool about all of this."

Shino did not respond, but his kikkaichu quieted while his heart sped up. It was not until TenTen leapt down to greet her teammates that Shino began to realize that he was truly feeling two distinctly different emotions. Just as the advisors had indicated, if he had true real feelings for TenTen beyond his kikkaichu's desire to procreate, he and his kikkaichu would react differently to specific stimuli in regard to his intended.

His kikkaichu had no difficultly with allowing TenTen to leave with her longtime teammates, while Shino the man, looked on in jealously as Neji stood a little too close and lean in a little too far for his liking. As far as the kikkaichu were concerned, as long as TenTen did nothing to jeopardize their spawn. They were content to let her live her life away from them, while Shino rebelled at the very thought of never claiming his own child, of being stuck being 'Mommy's weird friend'.

Shino did not need his Aburame advisor any longer to tell him TenTen was what he wanted. She was, as Kiba had said perviously, perfect for him. She was the ideal mix of beauty, humor, caring, intelligence and she had that extra something that his kikkaichu responded to. How did one go about seducing someone they had already impregnated?

Shino was not sure how, but as he watched TenTen walk away, a male she had close personal ties to on either side, he decided that he would do his best to win the heart of the woman that already owned his. As close as he figured, he had eight months before the baby was born to convince TenTen he was the one for her and that she could not live without him.

So, as was his nature, Shino hunkered down and awaited the coming of the invincible summer, biding his time, and formulating a plan to win all that was worth winning.

I thrive on constructive criticism and cookies, not flames.

Kat

The title I took from a quote from Albert Camus

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.


	3. Chapter 2 Rated M

A Naruto Fanfiction

I Know You Know That I Know

Aburame Shino and TenTen

Continuation of Waiting for an Invincible Summer

Rated M

* * *

**This is for you Fanwoman and Rel!**

* * *

The sharp nip TenTen felt on the back of her neck should have frightened her because of its sudden, unexpected appearance, but the accompanying inaudible buzz against her back and the drool inducing scent that made heat pool between her legs enticed TenTen to lean into her assailant instead of move away.

"Stand still."

The order was softly spoken, but was no less of a command than if it had been harshly demanded. TenTen didn't dare disobey for fear he'd disappear like some mythical creature that could only be seen if you were not looking. The grip she had on the sink in front of her was turning her fingers white and making her wrists ache, but it was the only way TenTen could keep herself from turning around.

Large, strong, callused hands started caressing at her shoulder blades before ghosting down her sides, skimming across her ribs under her breasts and then down to grip the points of her hips.

She wasn't allowed to move, but he had no such restriction. He leaned into her heavily forcing her to either take his weight or bend, and TenTen was trained to never bend.

Against her naked body, TenTen could fell the crisscrossed texture of his mesh shirt and the warm patches of skin between the spaces. Two sets of zippers, one for the overcoat and one for the undercoat, were trapped against her back, most likely leaving four tiny, rows of temporary teeth marks to go with the slightly more permanent ones he was leaving on her neck and shoulders.

TenTen groaned, the effort of obeying and staying still weighing on her. She felt him smile against her neck before sweeping his tongue along the shell of her ear. She wanted to scream at him, tell him exactly what kind of bastard he was for doing this to her.

'Yes', TenTen decided as he nudged her head to the side to give himself more room to touch her with mouth and teeth. She should make him sorry for teasing her this way before she threw him down and showed him how to get business done. But TenTen wouldn't risk it.

Every time TenTen had tried to become aggressive, he would simply vanish, leaving her more frustrated and pissed off than she could ever remember being. TenTen wasn't promiscuous by any stretch of the imagination, and unfortunately all of her sexual experience came from 'on the job' training, save her very first time, but damn it this... thing, whatever it was between them, for him, was driving her crazy and she wasn't sure how much more of it she could take.

When TenTen thought her sanity was surely gone, he flipped her around, tossed her up on the ice cold sink and proceeded to steal the very breath from behind her own teeth with that demon appendage most people would call a tongue. She hadn't been given leave to move, so with eyes tightly shut and hands being held down with his much larger ones against the porcelain, TenTen was forced to follow where he led. And right now she'd follow him straight into hell (where he obviously had come from to torture her) as long as he FINISHED it for once.

When finally she caved and whimpered, he forced her hands behind her back and used her superior height and leverage to pull her flush against him.

"Look at me."

Suddenly TenTen began to panic. She knew she shouldn't and everything in her tried to stop herself from following his command, but like every time before, she failed.

Looking up, TenTen had no trouble seeing his face, because there was no collar, hood, headband or glasses to obstruct her view. Nothing that would hide the fact that TenTen had no idea what color Shino's eyes were and therefore only empty space filled the void in her dream.

Sitting upright, TenTen screamed silently in frustration, and when that wasn't enough to release the pent up energy, she flipped herself over and screamed for real into the bedding. Feeling childish and not caring, TenTen thrashed her arms and legs in a display any rampaging two year old would be proud of.

TenTen kept it up for a few minutes cursing men in general and Aburame Shino in particular until she felt her stomach roll. She instantly froze, fearing what might happen if she moved too quickly, or at all. It took several slow, shallow breaths until TenTen felt that she could get up without puking.

The sickness had just started creeping into her morning routine two days ago. She had ignored it at first, not truly connecting it to her pregnancy until Temari had said something.

"It's the baby screwing with your hormones," the blonde woman had told her, grinning cheekily. "It's also why you keep having those naughty dreams."

"What does she know anyway?" TenTen complained, still faced down and muffled by the futon. "It's not like she's ever been pregnant."

While TenTen agreed that her morning sickness was due to the baby, she placed the blame of her sleepless nights squarely on Shino's impressively wide, hard, strong shoulders. Groaning at the direction her thoughts were once again heading, TenTen mustered the will and the strength to roll back over and stare at the ceiling.

Maybe Temari was right.

TenTen had never been plagued by sex dreams before. Sure she had her daydreams, what girl didn't, but to have full blown triple X rated scenes running through her head virtually every night? (And sometimes in broad daylight.)

And what was up with the orgasm interuptus? It wasn't like she didn't have first hand knowledge of what it was like, going off like a sky rocket with Shino inside her, holding her, telling her to cum when he himself could barely form the words.

TenTen groaned at the raunchiness of her own thoughts and threw an arm over her eyes. She had never been like this before. Maybe it was a good idea for the Hokage to send her on this solo mission to Suna. The way she was feeling now, TenTen wasn't sure if she would screw poor Shino unconscious or throw up all over him. The silliness of her thoughts tamed some of the intense arousal and made her smile despite the queasiness she felt creeping back in.

It wasn't too surprising to TenTen that she was dreaming about Shino. After all, not only had they had mind-blowing sex together, Shino had taken her completely by surprise, and TenTen wasn't easily surprised.

Before that night TenTen had always thought of Shino as a reserved, intelligent man that valued honesty and straightforwardness. Now she knew Shino to be a reserved, intelligent man that valued honesty, straightforwardness and that he could make every one of her toes curl backwards, and she STILL didn't know what he looked like beyond the swipe of pale skin she had uncovered between his glasses and his cock.

And, by the stars, he smelled so good! Even if she couldn't get her stomach to settle enough to sex him up, she could easily spend all day (and night) draped all over him just taking in his scent. It wasn't anything new, he had alway had that fragrance around him (if you were ever lucky enough to get that close), and she hadn't been the only one to notice. Ino could talk, at length, about how yummy it was. So yummy in fact 'it almost made the bug thing worth it'. Which TenTen had always thought was unfair.

She kinda liked the 'bug thing'. It was no different than Kiba's 'dog thing' or Choji's 'eating thing' and no less a part of Shino than Shikamaru's 'lazy thing'. Everyone had their 'thing'. TenTen didn't find it anymore off putting than Naruto and his Kyuubi. She had honesty never thought twice about it, until that night.

At one point during that night, TenTen had sworn that Shino had grown another set of hands. There had been an arm under her arm, and his other arm around the back of her hips, then, just when Shino had bent down to kiss her again, TenTen had felt a thousand fingertips racing up her spine. TenTen knew what a chakra enhanced touch felt like, she had a Hyuuga as a teammate after all, but nothing had ever felt like that before.

It was the sensation of being touched without actually feeling the pressure. Where Shino's hands had gripped, and where his mouth had tasted had been warm, almost hot on her skin, and where the kikkaichu had traveled, had been a cool electricity that had all her nerve endings on edge. It had been like a well choreographed dance; where the kikkaichu led, Shino had been close to follow, where the insects drew her nerves taught like a bow, Shino would come along and pluck the string setting her off.

How was she going to get through this pregnancy if all she could think about was getting her baby's father naked, under her and begging? Begging for what exactly, TenTen didn't know, but she'd think of something, damn it!

With that last thought, TenTen realized that without a doubt, Lady Tsunade's decision to send her away from the village with that made up mission of delivering a scroll was for the best, although TenTen had to admit her reasons were not the same as the Hokage's had been.

Lady Tsunade had feared that despite the contract binding them, the Aburame would be compelled to approach TenTen, and pressure her to not only to continue her pregnancy, but also to give up the child to them once it was born. TenTen had none of these worries, manly because to her it was a non-issue. She WAS going to carry the baby to term and she didn't find it all that unappealing for her child to be embraced into the Aburame Clan, after all, she had very little to offer her child other than herself.

With no family and no clan, TenTen feared that if anything happened to her, her child would be left all alone, as she had been. It was a reasonable fear as she was a kunoichi and planed on continuing her life as a shinobi for as long as she was able. The only thing that gave her pause was the possibility that allowing the life inside her to become a member of its father's clan would mean she would loose the child all together. It was something she planed to talk to Shino about, after the ridiculous mandatory two week 'reflection' period was over, assuming of course she would be able to talk to the man face to face without jumping him or swooning.

TenTen groaned yet again, this time in embarrassment. The last time she had attempted to talk to Shino, she had actually swooned like a school girl and only Lee's timely entry had saved her from herself. If it had not been for Lee and Neji, TenTen was sure she would have crawled right into Shino's jacket with him, if for no other reason than to surround herself in his scent.

"All right that's enough!" TenTen told herself flinging her arms to the side, trying to muster up all the 'beautiful' and 'youthful' determination that Gai-sensei had pounded into her head for over a decade. "I am going to get out of this bed, get ready, meet my team, and…"

TenTen covered her flushed face with both hands, "… and completely chicken out of telling them."

The weird thing was, TenTen wasn't embarrassed that she was pregnant, in fact, the reason she was embarrassed was because of how excited and girly she felt about the whole thing. Her, TenTen, the one that screamed about woman's rights and the equality of male and female shinobi, was daydreaming about bassinets and baby booties (when she wasn't thinking about getting Shino flat on his back that is).

In all honesty, TenTen never thought that she would become a mother. She spent all of her time on missions, training for missions, improving her skills; dating just didn't fit into that. Of course she could have always gone the artificial insemination route, but it felt so cold and impersonal to TenTen and it never really appealed to her sense of, well, destiny.

Unlike her teammate Neji, who viewed destiny as a chain to be bound to, or even a force to strive against, TenTen found fate to be more of a path in the woods that you didn't know you had been following. It was comforting for her to think that everything in life was meant to be, even the things that hurt.

TenTen sat up and wrapped her arms around her bent knees.

TenTen had to believe everything happened for a reason. Everything had to have a purpose, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. There had to be a reason she was alive and her family was not.

She would never be like Naruto, Neji or Lee; overcoming every obstacle that life had to offer to become better, stronger, more than anyone believed possible. She wouldn't be remembered by those that never even knew her as someone with great power, unusual talents or as a doer of incredible deeds. She was a simple shinobi, and when she died her name would be placed on the stone as everyone else's would be, and when all the shinobi came to pay their respects to a fallen comrade. And if she was lucky, truly lucky, a few of them would linger back for a personal, private goodbye.

TenTen smiled and suppressed her giddy giggle by pressing her face into her knees.

She may be a simple shinobi, but it was that unremarkable life that had brought her the baby inside her. It was destiny that grouped her with Kiba and Shino. It was fate that sent Shino to her in that alley instead of Kiba that night, because if it had have been the other way around, TenTen was certain Shino wouldn't have allowed things to have continued as they had. And TenTen had to believe it was meant to be that the contraception jutsu (that all kunoichi were required to have before a mission of any type) failed, something that Lady Tsunade had never seen happen before.

Destiny wanted her to have this baby. A child of her own, someone that would, at least for a little while, be all hers, someone that would need her not because of what she was, but because of who she was. She wouldn't be exchangeable or interchangeable with anyone else. For the first time in her life TenTen felt what it must be like to be special.

"Oi, TenTen!"

Sitting up abruptly, TenTen rolled out of bed, and ran to her window before her teammate could bellow her name again.

"I'll be right down Lee," TenTen hissed back softly from her second story window, hoping against hope that Lee would take the hint and lower his volume.

"Then we shall wait for you, shall we not N…"

Before he could continue and most likely wake up all of TenTen's neighbors, Neji stuck a nerve in Lee's neck instantly silencing the green clad man. Once Lee figured out that he could no longer speak he began to 'yell' at Neji to which the Hyuuga only smiled.

"Hurry up, regrettably, that will not last long."

It only took minutes for TenTen to get ready, and before long, she was racing along the rooftops towards the training grounds and the place where old Team Gai were to met.

Gai-sensei had long since been relieved of the duty of watching over them, but by his own words; Lee, Neji and TenTen were more than students to the Jounin, they were family. They were not his first genin squad, but by far, they had been his most successful. Since that time, Maito Gai had returned to full-time Jounin work as newly appointed Jounin replaced him and were given genin squads of their own to train and look after.

It was rare that they were all in the village at the same time and free from assignments. Even now they were not truly 'free'. TenTen was scheduled to embark on her own mission this afternoon, Neji was a new ANBU and was in training behind closed doors most of the time, Lee and Gai-sensei had just come back from a mission the night before. At best they had three hours before they would separate, not knowing when they would be able to meet again.

As if they were still a unit that trained daily together, they landed in unison in one of their old favorite training spots at the base of a large rock formation at the juncture of the forest and the river. It had been ideal for varied terrain exercises, now it was an ideal picnic spot.

"There you are my students!" Gai exclaimed, throwing his arms wide but staying on the other side of the dark green blanket ladened with foodstuffs.

"Gai-sensei!"

It was a scene that repeated itself every time. No matter how long they had been apart (this time TenTen doubted that it had been more than 12 hours) her old sensei and Lee would embrace, tear-up and in most cases actually cry. Neji made his usual non-comital noise of exasperation and sat against the tree nearest the blanket, TenTen took her usual place on the blanket nearest the Hyuuga so that she could easily hand him a bowl of food.

The gushing and the greetings didn't last too long, and soon they were sitting back trading light stories of current missions, or at least the boys were, TenTen had yet to speak. So far only Neji had noticed her reluctance to participate, but then again it was Neji, and no one knew her as he did.

"So, TenTen, what is new in our most delightful kunoichi's life that has distracted her so from Lee's tale?" Maito Gai asked, his voice a little more reserved than was typical serving to quiet Lee without saying anything at all.

Ok, so maybe Gai-sensei knew her better than she liked to admit. The blushing started immediately, which only served to peak Lee's interest and Gai-sensei's attention, Neji remained as watchful as when they had started the picnic. Screwing up her courage, TenTen came right out and said it.

"I'm pregnant."

Lee just blinked at her as if he had no idea what 'I'm pregnant' meant, and TenTen could see the smile freeze on her old sensei's face. Neji, for his part, only tilted his head slightly in a pose TenTen recognized as a contemplative one.

Just as the silence was becoming painful, and TenTen's stomach started to churn with fear instead of baby hormones...

"Who's is it?"

"When's the wedding?"

"I've always liked the name Mochi."

"Can we book the Hokage Tower?"

"I want to be your Best Man!"

"When did it happen?"

"Neji!" Lee shouted, his voice now distinguishable from Gai-sensei as he stood front and center pointing a bandage wrapped finger at the Hyuuga. "I challenge you for the right to be Best Man!"

Now it was Neji's turn to blink in wonderment, before adopting a bored expression. "Lee, unless it has escaped your notice, TenTen is a woman. Women have Bride's Maids, not Best Men."

Lee pulled back momentarily, mulling over this information, but as predicable as the sun raising...

"Neji! I challenge you for the right to be TenTen's Most Beautiful Maid of Honor!"

TenTen blamed it on the pregnancy hormones, but at Lee's declaration she felt tears start to burn behind her eyes even as she was trying to hide her laughter behind her hand. The only thing that kept her from actually crying was the lock she had on Neji's indulgent half grin, that could have been mistaken for a smirk if she didn't know Neji the way she did.

"Then I have no choice but to concede to you, Rock Lee. For I can not fathom someone anymore worthy of the honor of being TenTen's bride's maid than you."

When the only voice that filled the clearing was Lee's jubilant cries of triumphant joy of besting his eternal rival, TenTen looked over her shoulder to find Gai-sensei strangely sedate. His eyes weren't sad really, or disappointed just... apologetic? Most likely he realized the conditions under which she had gotten with child

Gai-sensei's more diplomatic stoic acceptance of her pregnancy lasted all of thirty seconds before he had burst into tears. It was hard to understand what exactly he was blubbering about, but somewhere in all the crying and nose wiping TenTen had heard 'our precious flower has blossomed' and then something about pollen and bees.

The last bit made her think of Shino, which had started her blushing, then thinking of Shino had started her remembering the night their child had been conceived which ramped up her blush into a four alarm fire. Which, of course, was the precise moment when she realized that Neji was staring at her.

Not only was he staring at her, Neji was looking at her through his Byakugan. That typically didn't bother TenTen. Neji would often laps into using his bloodline limit as a way to distance himself from the Green Beasts of Konoha when they were particularly 'youthful' as they were today.

Lee was planing a wedding she didn't have the heart to tell him wouldn't be happening, and Gai was trying out dozens of 'strong, beautiful' names out loud for the baby. It wasn't until Neji spoke that TenTen realized that the Hyuuga prodigy had actually been staring inside of her.

"So it has to be either Inuzuka, Aburame, Uzumaki or Kakashi-sensei," he declared confidently.

TenTen was so stunned all she could do was gape at her ex-teammate.

"I don't know what you're talking about," TenTen tried to argue back, not even sounding convincing to herself.

Neji's eyes narrowed disapprovingly in their activated form before he continued.

"You are four, possibly seven, weeks along. You have been on a total of four missions during that time. Two with Lee and I, and I think we can safely assume that neither one of us is the father," Neji said, pausing to transfer his now normal gaze over to his spandex-ed rival who was currently debating the wisdom of using spring colors for a autumn wedding with himself.

"So that leaves the other four."

TenTen sputtered a bit, first because she was surprised Neji had narrowed it down so quickly, but also because she was bound by her contract not to reveal Shino as the father.

"How do you know I just didn't have a fling in between missions?" TenTen countered hoping to throw Neji off the scent.

Neji's eyes narrowed even farther, adding crossed arms to his glare, clearly taking her question as an affront to his intelligence.

"I know because there would be no reason to keep the father's identity a secret, which you are obviously trying to do," Neji told her logically.

"Well, maybe it was someone else on those missions," TenTen mumbled eluding to the possibility of it being a target.

TenTen looked away from her best friend in a vain attempt to keep him from reading her secret in her eyes.

"If it had have been a situation like that," Neji reasoned, his voice softening as he nudged her gaze back up to his with a finger to her chin, "you would have come to me first before telling them."

TenTen knew she was well and truly trapped. Neji simply knew her too well. It would only take a few well worded questions for the Hyuuga to discover who the father of her baby was. Even if she lied or didn't answer at all, Neji would use what wasn't said to decipher what he wanted to know.

"You know I can't tell you," TenTen reminded her old teammate.

"I know, but there are other ways to find out," Neji promised, tapping her nose playfully even if his tone was serious and his face grimly determined. "Although I do find it fascinating that you spoke with both Inuzuka and Aburame at the ANBU offices the other day."

"Neji!" TenTen had growled, warning him not to continue.

Neji backed off after that. Probably realizing that TenTen was going from being concerned he would find out about Shino and moving onto being ticked off that he still spied on her (though Neji claimed it was only looking out for her). Thankfully, the picnic ended soon after, because TenTen wasn't sure how much she could take of Lee's wedding plans, Gai-sensei's increasingly ridiculous baby names and Neji's penetrating stares.

The three men she had grown up with walked her to the gates to see her off. To her surprise, there were no teary goodbyes due to her 'delicate' condition. Well no more weepy than usual at any rate. If Lee's hug was a little tighter, and if Neji's hand on the small of her back lingered longer, TenTen wasn't going to call attention to it.

TenTen turned to give her customary final wave goodbye.

Over Neji's left shoulder, TenTen saw a flash of something in the shadows behind her former teammate. When she transfered her wave and smile to Lee and Gai-sensei, there was a nearly identical glimmer of twin pin-pricks of light. Hoisting her pack higher on her shoulder, another pair of glares showed briefly in the shadows by the gate when she passed through.

TenTen knew that none of the Aburame watching her were Shino, because of two very obvious reasons. One, none of the shaded glasses were the same size or shape as the Aburame heir; and two, if Shino had wanted to spy on her, TenTen would have never known about it. The very fact that she did know his clansmen were watching her meant that they wanted her to know they were there.

To TenTen at least part of the message was clear, "We know."

The rest of the message however was not so crystal.

TenTen knew enough about of the intricacies of clan politics through Neji to know that unless she was born to it, she would never catch all of the fine details. Were the Aburame threatening her, enticing her or simply seeing how she would react to their presence? It was impossible for her to tell. The best she could do was to be herself and never, EVER let her guard down, because if there is one hard and fast constant among the clans it was that everyone had an agenda whether malignant or benign.

TenTen consciously turned her back to the village, and to her observers. She may only be a Chuunin, but she had Hyuuga Neji and the Green Beasts of Konoha as training partners and more than just a few tricks up her wide sleeves. Knowing the Aburame were still watching, TenTen used an ANBU level jutsu to blink, untraceably out of sight; sending a little message of her own.

'Catch me if you can!'

* * *

**I thrive on constructive criticism and cookies, not flames.**

**Kat**


End file.
